In the past, some missiles have used a complicated and fairly expensive thermal battery circuit to charge a capacitor before flight of the missile in order to provide an energy source for a detonator of the warhead. These systems are too expensive and require more sophisticated circuitry than is desirable.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple piezoelectric charging device that utilizes pressure from the rocket motor to cause a piezoelectric crystal to produce sufficient energy to charge a capacitor that can be used to cause detonation of a detonator for a warhead.
Another object of this invention is to provide a simple device that utilizes a simple bridge circuit in causing the energy to be stored in a capacitor.
Still another object of this invention is to provide for detonator safety in that the system of applicant's allows the detonator power supply to be physically isolated from other power supplies.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a charging arrangement that eliminates the need for costly charging circuits.
A further object of this invention is to provide a system that has few components in the charging circuit and therefore less chance of failure.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in this art.